KELTY celebrated the contribution that coal has made to the local community with an exhibition of mining heritage on Sunday and Monday.

Working with the Scottish Mining Museum and mining historian Chris Sparling, local history was told in pictures, print and prose at the village's new community centre on through an initiative from Kelty Mining Heritage Group.

There were displays of equipment worn and used by miners and the mines rescue service and a replica of a miner’s row cottage complete with a cast iron range, a tin bath and a canary.

Visitors were treated to some humorous memories of a retired miner by Pat Rattray and on a more serious note the role of women in mining by Maggie Wright and finally Henry Hynd gave an account of the 1957 Lindsay Pit Disaster.

For younger visitors there was the opportunity to try games that their grandparents would have played and the chance to experience the cramped and dark space that a miner would have had to work in.

Pupils from Kelty Primary School performed a song to commemorate famous lady MP of the time when coal was the major employer in the area, Jenny Lee, and pupils from St Joseph’s RC Primary School on Monday afternoon. Convenor of the Kelty Mining Heritage Group, Betty Rodden, said that the event had exceeded her expectations.

She would like to thank all those who have contributed artefacts and expertise to the exhibition and to members of the public for their support.